Italy passes residual law

ROME — Following a European directive, a new law has been passed in Italy regulating rights payments to filmmakers, TV directors and scripters for each showing of their work on television, video and all other media.

The legislation, which will take effect on Jan. 1, brings the audiovisual production sector in line with the music industry. Rights payments for both sectors now will be controlled by national rights organization SIAE.

Up to now, films have been broadcast on Italian TV without regulation, allowing many of the country’s golden-age filmmakers to remain destitute despite the frequent programming of their work on national screens.